One common piece of exercise equipment used in Pilates studios is called a reformer. FIG. 1 shows portions of a typical background art reformer 100. The reformer includes a frame that includes side rails 102, end rails 104 and legs 106. The frame elements can be made of metal, wood, synthetic materials, and composites.
A carriage 140, like the one shown in FIG. 6, is slidably mounted on the frame. In most reformers, the carriage 140 includes wheels 142 that are rotatably mounted to the bottom of the carriage. The wheels 142 rest on channels 108 that are attached to the insides of the side rails 102 of the frame. This allows the carriage to be moved back and forth in the longitudinal direction along the frame.
The carriage has a “head” end and a “foot” end. The head end includes a head rest 150 and shoulder blocks 152. As is well known to those of skill in the art, springs, not shown, are attached between the bottom of the foot end of the carriage and a spring bar 112 that is mounted at the foot end of the frame. Because of the springs, the user must apply force to cause the carriage to move toward the head end of the frame. If the user releases this force, the springs pull the carriage back toward the foot end of the frame.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a typical spring bar 112 includes a plurality of spring hooks 115. The spring hooks 115 can include a threaded end that passes through the spring bar 112 such that a nut 117 can be used to couple the hook 115 to the spring bar 112. In many reformers, four springs can be attached between the bottom of the carriage 140 and the spring bar 112. The springs and the spring hooks 115 are configured such that it is easy to remove one or more springs from the spring hooks 115 on the spring bar 112. This allows the user to vary the amount of force required to move the carriage toward the head end of the frame. If all four springs are coupled to the hooks 115 on the spring bar 112, a large amount of force is required to move the carriage to the head end of the frame. If only one spring is coupled to a hook 115 on the spring bar 112, a much smaller amount of force is required to move the carriage toward the head end of the frame.
In addition, in most reformers, it is also possible to move the spring bar to different positions on the frame. This is commonly accomplished by spring bar mounts 110 which are attached to the side rails 102 of the frame. As shown in FIG. 2, a spring bar mount 110 can include a plurality of mounting holes 113. Screws or bolts pass through the mounting holes and into the side rail 102 of the frame to couple the spring bar mounts 110 to the side rails 102 of the frame. A plurality of mounting apertures 111a, 111b, 111c are formed in the spring bar mount 110. The ends of the spring bar 112 are mounted within one of the mounting apertures, as shown in FIG. 1.
Because multiple mounting apertures are formed along the length of the spring bar mount 110, the spring bar 112 can be positioned at multiple different locations on the frame. This also allows the user to adjust the amount of force that is required to move the carriage toward the head end of the frame, or at least the point at which the springs will begin to stretch as the carriage is moved toward the head end of the frame.
If the spring bar 112 is mounted in the rear-most mounting aperture 111c, the springs will begin to stretch when the carriage is located at a first position on the frame. If the spring bar 112 is moved to the front-most mounting aperture 111a, the springs will begin to stretch when the carriage is located at a second position on the frame, the second position being located closer to the head end of the frame than the first position.
In order to allow the user to easily remove one or all of the springs from the hooks 115 on the spring bar 112, the reformer is designed so that when the spring bar is located at the mounting position closest to the foot end of the frame, when the carriage is moved to the foot end, no tension is present in the springs. This allows the user to easily remove the springs from the hooks.
Because the reformer is dimensioned in this fashion, if the spring bar is located in the mounting position closest to the head end of the frame, when the carriage moves to the foot end of the frame, a great deal of slack is present in the springs. The springs typically sag downward under the force of gravity, which pulls the hooks 115 downward, which in turn causes the spring bar to rotate. In some instances, the spring bar 112 and hooks 115 rotate so much that the springs fall off the hooks.
Many reformers also include a foot or “jump” board 118 which is removably mounted on the foot end of the frame. A jump board mount 116 is attached to the inside of the end rail 104. The jump board mount 116 includes an aperture 116a which receives the jump board 118. When the jump board 118 is mounted on the frame in this manner, the user can lie on the carriage and push against the jump board 118 to move the carriage toward the head end of the frame. The springs would tend to resist this movement, and they would act to return the carriage to foot end of the frame.
Some of the activities practiced by the users require the user to sit or lay on the carriage and repeatedly push against the jump board with their feet. This imparts a torquing or rotational force to the jump board which is resisted by the jump board mount 116. Over time, after repeated or heavy use of the jump board, the jump board mount 116 can become loose, or physically separate from the foot rail 104 of the frame.
Many reformers also include a foot bar assembly, such as the one shown in FIG. 5. The foot bar assembly includes a U-shaped foot bar 120. Ends of the U-shaped foot bar 120 are rotatably mounted in foot bar brackets 126 which are attached to the inside of the side rails 102. This allows the foot bar 120 to rotate about the ends mounted in the foot bar brackets 126. The foot bar assembly also includes a U-shaped brace bar 128. Ends of the U-shaped brace bar 128 are rotatably coupled to the U-shaped foot bar 120. In addition, the middle section of the brace bar can be inserted into brace bar support brackets 114 mounted on the inside of the end rail 104 of the frame.
If the user wishes to use the foot bar assembly, the foot bar assembly is configured as shown in FIG. 5, with the foot bar 120 extending up above the frame, and with the middle section of the brace bar 128 inserted into the brace bar support brackets 114. In this configuration, if the user is lying on the carriage, the user can push against the foot bar 120 with their hands or feet to push the carriage toward the head end of the frame, against the force of the springs.
If the user does not wish to use the foot bar, the brace bar 128 can be removed from the brace bar support brackets 114, and the brace bar can be rotated upward with respect to the foot bar 120 so that the middle portions of the foot bar and the brace bar come together. The entire assembly can then be rotated downward so that the legs of the foot bar 120 and brace bar 128 come to rest on the end rail 104 of the frame. The middle portions of the foot bar 120 and the brace bar 128 would then extend out behind the end rail 104 of the frame. When the foot bar assembly is positioned in this folded configuration, it is possible to insert the jump board 118 into the jump board mount 116.
As is also well known to those of skill in the art, two straps are attached to the head end of the carriage, and the straps pass around rollers or pulleys mounted on the end rail of the frame located at the head end of the frame. The free ends of the straps are then attached to handles which can be grasped by the user. Thus, a user can pull on the straps to cause the carriage to move toward the head end of the frame against the force of the springs.
The ends of the straps are attached to the head end of the carriage 140 using two mounting bolts 146, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Typically, the mounting bolts 146 are eye-bolts that are attached to a bracket 148 mounted on the underside of the head end of the carriage 140. As shown in FIG. 7, the bracket 148 could be L-shaped, and the leg of the L-shaped bracket 148 that extends downward from the underside of the carriage could include a hole that receives a threaded end of the eye-bolt 146. Thus, one or more nuts 145 could be used to attach the eye-bolt 146 to the bracket.
Most reformers have carriages 140 that include a layer of padding 154 attached to the upper side of the carriage. The padding could include a layer of a resilient material covered by an exterior layer of vinyl or other synthetic material. The outer covering layer would be designed to be washable. Likewise, the shoulder blocks 152 and the head rest 150 might also be covered by a padding layer with a vinyl or synthetic cover.
In known reformers, the padding and the synthetic covers are permanently attached to the carriage. As a result, if a user desires to replace the padding and cover layer, the carriage must be removed from the reformer, and the carriage must then be partially disassembled so that the synthetic cover and the padding can be removed and replaced.